| Arrival; Chapter 1 | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jan 26 2016, 08:15 PM (34 Views) | |
| Quatre Raberba Winner | Jan 26 2016, 08:15 PM Post #1 |
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After two days' journey, the shuttle touched down on Martian soil near the town of Elysia near the now-inactive volcano Elysium Mons. Quatre, Heero, and Dorothy were separated for final processing. The Colonial and Terran Preventers completed the handover to their Martian counterparts and then took their leaves. The Martian unit explained the terms of the exile. Mostly this meant staying out the few administrative buildings and government unless given explicit permission. Communications to Earth and the Colonies, including the Internet, would be restrictive, and though they did not say it, probably monitored. After explaining where and when to check in, the officers left to resume their other duties, and a young intern was left to give a tour of the town and to show the new accommodations. Apparently they were not considered too dangerous. Quatre's guide Erlyn was a young girl who seemed very impatient. He had a feeling he was keeping her from something. As they walked down the street, he looked around the town. It was a nice little village. There were plenty of businesses and buildings, but none of the buildings were very tall, possibly because of how far they extended beneath the surface. Elysium Mons towered over the village. The other large hills, Hecates Tholus and Albor Tholus, were not visible from the town. There was still plenty of red rust showing through the landscape, but green vegetation was also plentiful. The initial processes for terraforming had started generations ago. Scientists had started extended stays on Mars only within the last couple of generations, and it was only in the last few decades that they and other citizens started actually emigrating there. Miss Relena had been championing the project and encouraging more and more people to emigrate to the red planet and to finish the terraformation process. She had convinced her brother and Miss Noin to make the journey. Last he heard, Miss Noin—along with whatever Zechs was going by these days—was located at the capital, Pacem, named in honor of Miss Relena. There were only a handful of towns on Mars. The Preventer agents had said this town was called Elysia. "This is the town. It's...pretty crappy. Nothing ever happens here. It's the worst," explained Erlyn in a bored tone. "There's nothing to do. There's a few shops and pretty much one movie theater, not that we get any new movies ever. All the buildings go underground for safety reasons or whatever. Under is actually bigger right now, and most of the building connect through tunnels and stuff below ground. Actually the boarding house you're going to be put in isn't ready yet, so you're going to have to stay in one of the underground cells for a few weeks until your room is ready." "Oh, I don't mind staying underground. Someone else could take the surface-level room," Quatre explained. "Yeah, that's not going to happen. You're not getting the room in the boarding house out of any special treatment. They're going to turn the underground cells into emergency shelters and combine them to create huge vaults for the rich people. They don't want you stinking the place up." Erlyn paused at a corner of the sidewalk and looked down a side street, but she made no comment. "Well...I'll just take what the government wants me to have right now, I suppose." He looked down the side street but only saw random foot traffic. The girl sighed. "Let's go Under." She opened the side door of a nondescript building, revealing a descending staircase. Quatre followed her down a flight; there was a landing with an elevator. She swiped a card and hit the button to call the elevator. "Under is basically just one big lab." When they arrived at their level, Quatre saw that Erlyn was not exaggerating much in her description. The hallways were white and grey with plain, barely informative signs posted here and there. It was definitely built for utilitarian purposes. He was sure Dorothy was dying with every step down here. They finally arrived at his rooms, his cell as Erlyn was keen to call it. Room 236. There was not much to it. A bed in the corner with a small dresser. A loveseat sat in an adjacent corner. Cater-cornered from the loveseat was a tiny kitchenette with a little table to eat at in the final corner. He saw a door for the bathroom, and he felt confident he could guess what its interior looked like. Yes, Dorothy was basically dead at this point in her own tour. "Here are all your cards," the young guide explained, gesturing to a packet on the table. "It has your meal card, key card, and ID code. There's a mess hall down here that most people use at least a few times a week, especially the boffins who work down here. The mess hall schedule is there, too. To help the people who stay down here for most of the day, the lights simulate daylight, and at night they dim to fake evening. It looks gross. I've had to stare at them for half my life practically. Ugh. Oh, there are other lights around if you need them." Quatre took his bags from the porter who had just arrived, thanking him profusely. He wished he could tip the man, but he had no monetary units on him at the moment. Plus, his personal bank accounts had been seized and frozen by ESUN when he came under investigation. He had hidden plenty of funds before the government had had the chance, but he had not yet had time to access the accounts without being detected. "So, you got that?" Erlyn asked a tad impatiently. "I'm sorry?" She rolled her eyes. "Just stay down here until they give you the ok to go topside again. When you do go to the surface, you may want to wear something around your head for protection from the dust storms we still get from time to time. Some old people like you like to wear them all the time on the surface, so you'll want to get a few extra." He blinked a little. "Old people...like me?" She did look fairly young after all, and it was not exactly the first time he had been called old—he had plenty of nieces and nephews—but it still surprised him somewhat. "Do you mind if I ask how old you are?" "I'm nearly nine." His eyebrows shot up. "Oh...right...that's in Martian years. The only ones that matter here? I guess that makes me, like, 17 or whatever on Earth. A Martian year is, like, exactly twice an Earth year." He was fairly certain that was not an exact conversion but decided not to press her on the matter. Somehow he doubted she had paid much attention to her classes. Had she grown up here? Was that really how they reckoned age here? Wait. That meant according to Martian reckoning...he was roughly 15. The same age he was when— "Can you believe these people?" Dorothy asked as she made her way into his room, already making herself at home. She looked around the room. "I see that they're trying to stick you with the same kind of room they think I'm going to take—as if all my things could fit into a room this size." Erlyn eyed them. "Are you two a thing? Because if you're married or whatever, then you can get a double room...but that's the only reason they're going to give you one." Dorothy pivoted on her heel, just now acknowledging the young girl in the room. "Who are you? It doesn't matter. The grown-ups are talking. Go." She pointed toward the door. Erlyn rolled her eyes yet again and seemed to consider protesting this treatment for a fraction of a second until she realized it gave her permission to leave. The teenager—or whatever they were called here—dashed to the door. On her way out, he heard her mutter something once again about "old people." "You're so very tactful, Dorothy," he chided as he started to unpack. "She was just a young girl doing her job...though I'm not sure she really wanted to be doing it in the first place." Dorothy waved it off. "Dear Quatre, that girl hates us no matter what. Why bother with charm? Anyway we have more pressing matters at hand." "You mean the size of your room?" "Don't act like you're comfortable with this!"—"I am."—"Liar! Even if you're going to drone on and on about living out of a Gundam cockpit for a few days, you were 15 then, nearly a foot shorter, and half your weight. You're an adult now and more creaky. Anyway, despite what that little thing said, I'm going to get a bigger room. I have my little aide running off to get her supervisor or whatever." "We could just get married and get a bigger room the proper way," he teased as he looked at a map of Under Elysia. They had seen each other a few times over the years; most of their sporadic dates had gone undetected by the media. Recently, Dorothy had decided she wanted a baby, and Quatre had been her first choice as sperm donor. However, she loved to tease him by trying to recruit other men to be the future father of her children. On the shuttle ride to Mars, she even propositioned Heero. "Try not to tempt me with your overly romantic proposals, darling," cautioned Dorothy. "Although, now that you mention it...." He turned to face her with wide eyes. Though they had not bothered to talk about exactly what stage their relationship was at, they were certainly not ready for that yet. She laughed. "We can get married when you finally give me my—our—baby. How is that?" "I'll get back to you when I'm sure you've stopped trying to find other men to supply that need in your life, darling." She gave him a wounded look. "Now, really, Quatre, you make it sound like I'm not being highly selective in my choice of partners. Besides, you know you're my favorite just as I know I'm yours." She wrapped her arms around his neck so that he would automatically hold her hips. "I gave up drinking while we're trying because you asked me to, didn't I?" "...Yes you did," he reluctantly agreed. "Now, we weren't allowed to bring that many things, so your room size...so the size of your room is fine." "Please, darling, I'm going to have more of my possessions smuggled over here in supply shipments. Don't tell me you aren't." She rubbed the nape of his neck. He sighed. "Cat, must you immediately break all the rules of our probation?" "It's not probation. It's exile!" she corrected. "Now that we're here, ESUN won't give one fig about us. We're out of their hair. As long as we make no attempt to go back or to interfere in what they're doing, they could not care less what we do or what we bring." "I think they'll care to find out how much we manged to hide from them when we realized they were going to seize all our personal assets." She shrugged this away. "Well, perhaps your room in the boarding house will be bigger," he offered. She was not impressed. "But there are other issues besides the size of the room. Have you seen what is on the mess hall schedule? It makes me queasy just thinking about it!" "We all know that you'll adapt, Dorothy Catalonia," he promised giving her a kiss. "If you don't, you can't be the mother of my children," he teased. She rolled her eyes a little and seemed to notice something, or lack of it, for she looked around the room quickly. "Do you have room to pray? How will you know which direction Mecca is in?" He blinked. "Um...actually I have no idea." Dorothy tsked and rolled her eyes again, making some comment about how lost men were without women. "It's not like I'm all that devout. I didn't pray at all on the shuttle, and I usually don't make it all five times. I'm a terrible sinner." "I'm going to check on the status of my accommodations. Surely there are more devout Muslims here; I'll ask about it when they come to tell me where my new rooms are. You'd be lost without me." She headed toward the door. "Oh, yes, I don't know how I made my way in this world so far without you. Did you say rooms? As in plural? They don't need to waste space on you that they need for other people or other uses!" he called after her. She paused at the door. "Whatever I get, darling, I get for the both of us. We may not be ready for marriage, but given the amount of time we spent together at the end of our trials and awaiting our exile, do you really think we won't kill each other if we stay in a space of this size?" With that, she left. He shook head and finished unpacking. Then he changed into a fresh set of clothes. Had Erlyn stated where the laundering services were? He could not recall. Well, that information was surely in the packet. He looked around his room. It was not quite sinking in what had happened. It did not feel real that this was his new, permanent home. There was still a good chance he would never again see the Colonies or Earth. It was strange to think about, but he could not believe it was really happening. Perhaps that was partly because Miss Relena had promised to fight to get their exiles reversed. When they had been brought up on charges and it was clear that, despite the immunity the government had previously promised them, they were going to be tried for their crimes from the wars, Miss Relena had intervened and worked tirelessly to help them. She negotiated their exile to save them from possible execution. Now she promised to work toward reversing the banishment and bring them home. "Wow! I can't believe they gave you such a huge room! Must be the bucks. Mine's half this size." Duo busted into the room. Quatre looked around. "You're messing with me, right?" There was no way someone could live in less square footage than this, much less with his family. Lately, Quatre's closets were at least twice this size. "Would I do that to an old friend?" Duo acted offended. "So you're finally here!" Duo embraced him then made himself comfortable on the couch. "I've been here for weeks, waiting for you guys to arrive. Heard there was a delay due to illness? Anything serious?" Quatre waved his hand. "No. Heero had a mild case of the flu. It wasn't too bad, but the doctors deemed him too ill to be around the crew. I wasn't sick at all, but Dorothy thought she might be pregnant, so we got held back until it was determined that she wasn't. By the time they realized she wasn't really pregnant, they decided just to have us wait until Heero was cleared." "Why would you get held back if Dorothy was pregnant? Wait. Would you have been the father?" "Um, yeah." He busied himself with rifling through the packet on the table. "Must have been a relief...or was it?" "Well, it was mostly a long shot by Cat. She thought they would take pity on a pregnant woman and the baby's father." "So it was just a ruse?" "Not exactly. I mean, she was pretty sure she was not, in fact, pregnant...but we have been trying." "You've been trying? On purpose?" Quatre smiled. "Yes, some people have babies on purpose. I'm sure it's a hard concept for you and Hilde to grasp." "Hey, Duo, Jr, and Darcy are little gifts from heaven." "Yes, they are," he agreed taking a seat at the table. "But instead of getting a surprise gift, Dorothy decided she was ready to have children and took charge of the event—as always." He smiled. "She came to me. I said yes...eventually." "I didn't realize you two were that serious." "We haven't quite defined how serious we are, actually. Do you want anything to drink?" "Oh, no. You're just trying to have a child together, not serious at all. Nah, I'm fine. Besides, all you have is water right now. So, is that why you two aren't sharing a room then?" "Eh...it's complicated. We saw each other frequently and regularly for awhile now, but it was only until the trial that we actually spent long stretches of time together." "What? Did you used to only get together once a month or something?" "Something like that. Our paths crossed a lot more than people realize, and even before she got baby-fever, we managed to go out without too many people knowing." He moved to the couch. "Speaking of Hilde and the kids, how are they? Where are they?" "Oh, the munchkins are good, and they're taking their naps right now. They think this is some big adventure. Well, Junior does. Darcy isn't quite old enough yet. Sometimes Junior asks when we're going home, though. It'll be awhile before it sinks in that this is his new home. Hilde is still furious with the situation. If Nazario got within spitting distance of her, I'm pretty sure he'd regret it for the rest of his life—though it wouldn't be long." "Sorry for getting you involved." Duo waved him off. "We were happy to help, and we all know we are in the right. That senator is up to no good, but it'll just take time for people to realize it. Hopefully we'll still be alive." "Aside from being angry with the senator, how is Hilde taking it? He shrugged. "It hasn't been easy. They seized our bank accounts, but joke's on them, those were in the red. We weren't millionaires before the trial, and once we were arrested and the past came back up in the media, business sort of...slowed." Quatre understood that. He had experienced some downturn in business as well once the coverage started, but he had a feeling the effect had been a bit more acute for the Maxwells. "I suppose there isn't as much to salvage here given the local government tries to do that basically. They try to recycle and repurpose as much as they can, given their limited resources." "Yeah, plus I can't afford to import the machines I'd need, but I have managed to find some work." "Oh? Doing what?" "I've got one moving shipping crates when the supply shuttles come in and another landscaping up on the surface—I'm the only one who's gotten permission to go Up yet. We haven't found any child care yet. Hilde doesn't trust just anyone, and we're pretty short on funds at the moment, so Hilde hasn't been able to search for any work." "What if Cat or I watched them a couple days of the week?" offered Quatre. "At least until you found some other arrangement." He and Dorothy could take some time out to watch the Maxwell children, at least for a little while. "Are you sure? The boys can be a handful most of the time." "I'm sure. Besides, it'll be nice practice when we finally do have our own kids." "Our own children? Are you talking about us, darling?" greeted Dorothy as she returned. "Oh, you already have company. Hello, Mr. Maxwell." "Hey, Dottie," greeted Duo. Dorothy's eyebrow twitched. "What? I can't call you Cat like Quat here does. That's already his nickname. Actually, Quatre, you really need to pick a new nickname for her; it gets real confusing: Quat vs Cat." Quatre smiled as Dorothy took a seat on his bed opposite them. "Well, she already vetoed Dottie and Dolly, so I had to go to her surname. Besides, don't you think she's like a cat?" Duo took a moment to appraise the woman. "Well, you've got a point there, but I've been calling you Quat longer than you've been calling her Cat." "Is Quatre really that much harder to say than Quat?" questioned Dorothy. "I suppose I could always use your nickname for him: darling." "That's her nickname for everyone," protested Quatre. "Then what's her name for you?" Dorothy opened her mouth, but Quatre spoke up quickly, "Nothing you or anyone else needs to know. It's private." Dorothy gave him a rather amused smile. Duo eyed the couple. "Fine, keep your secrets for now, but you surely know that means I'll make it my mission to discover it sooner rather than later." "Well, how are Trowa and Wufei? Have you seen much of them?" asked Quatre, changing the subject before too much more was said. "More than I used to," he admitted. "Wufei got some special deal given all his service to the Preventers, and he's still working for them. It's just that everyone looks over his shoulder now. He's taking it a lot better than I would have thought, though. Given all his years in their service, building up his reputation and integrity with them...to have it all basically wiped out because of this must be hard." Quatre agreed. "Anyway, he says that the local government is pretty corrupt, and he's trying to work with some unit to clean it up, but apparently people are dragging their heels and still keeping a lot of documents and areas inaccessible to him." "They must be working for Senator Nazario," Quatre lamely joked. "Could be," Duo smiled. "Oh, and Trowa...well actually I haven't seen him as much as Wufei. He says he's found a job but won't really give any details." "That's strange." "Strange that the man doesn't talk?" asked Dorothy. "Strange that he's keeping the job title a secret," Quatre clarified. "I say he's a stripper," Duo explained. "He's got the body for it from all his manual work at the circus over the years. Plus, if he was able to keep the costumes, he's already got work outfits!" "I'm sure he's not a stripper," assured Quatre. "Oh, no, he's definitely a stripper," agreed Dorothy. "Mr. Maxwell's got it right." "You know you can call me Duo, right?" "That sounds like a made-up name." "Unlike Quatre?" countered Duo. "Well, you've got a point there." "What's wrong with my name?" Before either answered, he continued. "Anyway, whatever his job is and whatever his reason is, I'm sure that Trowa is not a stripper." "Well, see if you can find out before Catherine," Duo said. "What do you mean?" "They won't let Trowa send word to Catherine about his job or anything," Duo explained "They won't even let him send word to her that he arrived safely and found work? I knew they're going to restrict our communications with ESUN, but I didn't think they'd cut us off entirely." How could he speak with family? With friends? How was he going to run his company? Two of his sisters, Basima and Adila, were taking care of the day-to-day operations, but he knew that if he was not careful, they would seize entire control of the company. "She knows that he got here safely. The Preventers said they'd send at least that back to her, but they want us to go through a month or two of keeping our noses clean. I guess just to spite us." Duo shrugged. "In a month or two, they'll forget about us," snorted Dorothy. "Relena already has." "What?" asked Duo. "No, Relena said she's going to help us. Besides, aren't you two friends?" "No, don't—" Quatre tried to warn, but it was too late. "Friends? You think we were ever friends?!" cried Dorothy. "When we were children, I'll grant you that we were close to being friends, but that little bitch and I parted ways long ago. Maybe you, like Quatre, think she's still that peace-loving princess back in the 'good old days,' but she is just like any other politician, and she only cares about herself these days." She crossed her arms and huffed. Then she jumped up and started pacing the small room. "She thinks she's so much better than everyone, and that she's the only reason there's peace. Like no one else did anything else. Like no one else sacrificed anything! She loves the attention, especially what she got from throwing that party at the gold mansion a couple years ago, and do you know where she got that place? From me! We were supposed to be burying the hatchet, but did she say who lent her the location? No. Did she take good care of my place? No. It would have been great to help me out with things I was going through at the time, but she said it would just hurt her image!" "I—" started Duo, but he was cut off. "Now she's all bent out of shape by that senator's words, thinking I was behind all those assassinations, and she conveniently sends me to Mars," vented Dorothy. "If I have to cut my hair because of the dust storms, I'm stuffing it in a pillow and sending it to her!" "Cat, calm down. We're here now." Quatre stood and grabbed Dorothy's arms. "No need to bite Duo's head off." Duo stood. "Uh, it's ok. I should probably head back to Hilds and the kids. I went out for milk about an hour ago. Hey, why don't we go get dinner together at the mess hall? We'll stop by later, maybe grab Heero or the others. I'll talk with Hilde about your offer to watch the kids, Quat. See ya, Dottie!" "That sounds good. See you, Duo," replied Quatre. "...see you. Sorry about 'biting your head off,'" Dorothy said calmly. "No problem. I know it just means you love me." Duo grinned and took his leave. "Don't bother saying it," Dorothy warned when Quatre gave her a look. "I'm embarrassed enough at how I lost my composure, but Relena has royally screwed us all over this time, and I can barely contain myself. She's the reason we were even looking into Nazario's business, and conveniently she's the only one not found out. Then she gets us sent to Mars so that we can't open our mouths." Quatre did not bother to correct her this time. He had done it in vain numerous times before. It was true that the personal request and suspicions of Miss Relena had set into motion the events that led to their exiles, but he was sure that it was luck and coincidence that her involvement had not been found out. After all, none of them had cooperated with revealing who anyone else involved was. He felt certain that Miss Relena was, in fact, trying to get their exiles reversed just as soon as it was possible. Instead, he took his seat back on the couch, and after another few moments of fuming and calming down, Dorothy kicked off her shoes and joined him on the couch, curling up with him. "What was he saying about watching his children?" asked Dorothy. "Oh that...well I may have volunteered us for babysitting their kids a couple times a week so that Hilde can find a job. Right now Duo has a couple, but Hilde doesn't have any childcare in place to let her look for one as well," he explained. "Think of it as preparation for own little ones. We may not be able to have a fleet of servants to watch over them." "So you talk for both of us now?" she asked indignantly. "If you really do not want to help out the few friends we have here, then by all means you can back out of it, and I'll watch the children all by myself," he retorted. "However, I don't know if you remember, their youngest is still just a baby." The last couple of years, Dorothy was a huge sucker for babies. If you had asked him a decade ago, he would have said there was no way Dorothy would ever turn to goo in front of a baby and be desperate for her own, but then again, he now knew that he did not know her well enough back then. Plus, she had grown and matured in the last decade. They all had. "Baby? How old?" "Uh, if I remember correctly, only about 6 months. He was born about halfway through the trial." "Oh, yes, I remember now. Is he chubby?" He smiled. "Yes. You'll love him." She sighed softly. "How long would this stint be?" "Just until Hilde has a job and can find a more permanent solution for childcare. I'm sure it won't take her long for either. They just don't have enough funds yet to pay someone she's comfortable with." "Oh, very well," she relented. "Just next time talk to me before you volunteer me for anything so big?" "Ok, you're right. I should have talked with you before committing you to it," he agreed, kissing her. "What brought you back to my room so quickly? Miss me?" "I did before I realized you were talking like we were one entity," she teased, sitting up straighter. "I also came by to gloat." "Mm, and gloat over what this time?" "I got my larger room. It's still smaller than the playhouse Daddy got me when I was six, but it's at least slightly livable now." He groaned some. "Really, Cat?" She grinned in triumph. "Your room would have been fine for a few weeks." "And now it's better," she countered. "I didn't even bribe anyone, darling. I merely had a, slightly heated, discussion with the person in charge of accommodations." She ran a finger over his chest and fingered his buttons. "Cat...," he started, but he stopped when he noticed she was undoing his buttons. "I think it's time to fulfill your obligations toward me." "Yes, ma'am." An enthusiastic little knock came a few hours later on Quatre's door once the visitors discovered the door locked. He opened the door and grinned as he saw the entire Maxwell family along with Trowa. "Hii!" shouted little Duo, Jr, from Quatre's knee. He frantically waved to the two newcomers. Quatre doubted the toddler remembered him. He had seen the children now and then, but it was hardly frequent or with any regularity. "Why, hello there," greeted Quatre. "Hello, Hilde, Trowa. Ready to go?" Dorothy walked up behind him. "Hello, everyone." The others returned their greetings as Dorothy bent down to Junior's level. "Hello, and what is your name?" "Junior!" the boy exclaimed happily. "Named after your father," she smiled. "How old are you, Junior?" "Ten," the child declared confidently. "You're three," Hilde corrected, shaking her head. "I'm ten," Junior insisted. He looked between Dorothy and his father. "Daddy, she has hair like yours!" "Yes, she does," agreed Duo. He looked to the other adults. "Hilde refuses to let him grow his hair out. While other mothers are dreading the day their babies get their hair cut and let the kids have long hair forever, this one couldn't wait to take my boy to the barber shop. I held out as long as I could." "And it's good that it was cut before we got here," Hilde interjected. "You have enough trouble washing your hair here, and you're an adult. Can you image the headache I'd have trying to wash Junior's hair all the time? When he's older, he can grow it out if he wants." She shifted the baby in her arms. "And this must be little Darcy," cooed Dorothy as she zeroed in on the baby, which was nicely chubby as promised. Hilde smiled proudly. "Yes, he is. He's a very complacent baby, thankfully. It's made this whole horrible ordeal better than it could have been." Duo gave her a look to shut up. "Oh, I'm not going to rant anymore," Dorothy declared in a cooing voice as she played with the baby. "It's out of my system for the moment, and I would hardly want to scare the babies." "Do you want to carry him?" offered Hilde. "Are you sure?" "Yes. Duo and I carry him all the time." Dorothy excitedly took the babe, and they started to make their way down the hall. Junior decided to be their guide, so he stayed a few steps ahead of them to show them the way. "Heero and Wufei didn't want to join?" inquired Quatre. "Heero wasn't feeling well," Trowa informed. "Yeah, he said it wasn't anything serious but that it wasn't the best time for the trip, right after his illness. He said he was just going to bed early and figured he'd be better tomorrow," Duo continued. "We offered to bring him back something from the mess hall, but he had already gotten some crackers and hot chicken broth and said that was all he wanted," Hilde finished. "Hopefully the journey didn't cause a relapse," Quatre said. "He didn't seem ill on the journey over, but I doubt he would have shown any signs in front of the agents on board." "Eh, he says the real symptoms didn't show until after he was settled in his new room," assured Duo. Quatre still made a mental note to check on Heero the next day. "What about Wufei?" "Junior, get back here! Don't get that far ahead of us," called Duo. "Wufei is having dinner with some colleagues and the mayor," Trowa explained. "He said he'd stop by tomorrow to see you and Heero." "The mayor? Wow," commented Quatre, impressed. "Well, the mayor is his neighbor," Duo told him. "It's not the most impressive feat." He grinned. "I see," Quatre smiled. "Well, what is on the menu tonight? I looked at it earlier, but I forgot to look again before we left to see what was tonight's choices." "There's always the buffet," Hilde informed. "The buffet has a salad and fruit bar. They have a few tables with different foods from different regions of Earth, like a table with Asian food, mostly Chinese and Japanese, and a table with South American food, and so on." "Junior! You went too far. Come back here," Duo called again. "I not far!" protested the boy as he skipped farther down the hall. "Get back here!" called Hilde for good measure. "Aside from the buffet, tonight's menu includes burgers, chicken tenders, fajitas, and bulgogi," Trowa told Quatre. Duo jogged after his eldest when the boy refused to return to his parents. Junior then thought it was a race to the mess hall, so the boy ran down the hall as fast as he could, weaving in and out of the crowd. "Junior!" "That's not too bad; it's a lot better than I was thinking. You can surely find something to eat in that," Quatre said to Dorothy. "Hm? What?" asked Dorothy, though she kept her eyes on the baby in her arms. She kept making faces at the babe and bouncing him. "Never mind." After getting to the mess and getting their food, they sat at a table together. Junior insisted on sitting between Quatre and Dorothy, on the other side of the table from his "mean" parents. Quatre figured that the two were seeing how well he and Dorothy interacted with Junior. Trowa sat on the other side of Quatre, and Hilde held Darcy while Duo ate. "Would you like me to hold Darcy for a bit?" Quatre offered. Hilde shook her head. "Duo and I have a system, much like most couples. I hold Darcy while Duo hurries up and eats, and then when he's done, he takes Darcy, and I can take my time eating at my leisure." She smiled. "Especially tonight with you and Dorothy making sure Junior eats all his food." "Of course he's going to eat everything," declared Dorothy as she cut the boy's chicken tenders into small, bite-sized pieces. "Even his green beans. Right, Junior?" Junior shook his head and took a piece of chicken. "Then they're mine." She took one of his cut green beans off the plate and ate it. Junior watched her curiously but said nothing. "So, Trowa, I hear you managed to find a job already?" prodded Quatre. "Yes," answered Trowa. "What is it?" "Nothing special," the former clown stated without any further clarification. Quatre could feel Dorothy mouthing the word "stripper" to Duo behind their heads. "It's the most you'll get out him," Hilde told Quatre, bouncing Darcy on her knee. "He refuses to tell anyone else anything more. Duo thinks he's spying on us for ESUN." Duo swallowed a mouthful before clarifying, "It's not my foremost thought." Hilde smacked his arm. Trowa, for his part, merely smirked a little and continued eating without another comment. "Come on, Trowa. You can tell us," pressed Quatre. "Of course I can." They waited for Trowa to elaborate, but it never came. "So, um, have you been able to contact Catherine yet?" "No, but I spoke with Wufei, and he said that I should be able to send a short email early next week, provided the Preventers can look it over before I send it," he explained. "How is she taking your banishment?" questioned Dorothy as she took another bite of Junior's green beans. The boy frowned as she did it. "Well, when it came out publicly what happened, she berated me for days on 'going back to my stupid, teenage ways.' Then she cried for a few days. I was taken out of the show pretty quickly. My presence drummed up ticket sales from people wanting a peek at a Gundam pilot, but it also brought in a bunch of people who wanted to air their grievances at me, throwing vegetables at me and the other performers." Hilde handed Darcy to Duo and started to eat. "Yeah, we lost a lot of business once the trials and media coverage started. We had a few cases of vandalism, but luckily we didn't have anyone come up and harass us to our faces in front of the kids. Mostly the entire colony tried to avoid us like the plague." "We saw a drop off in business as well," Quatre explained, giving Junior some of his food that the boy wanted to try. "I had a good friend drop me because he used to live on one of the colonies I destroyed. His father died in one of the battles towards the end of the war, and he blamed me." Dorothy took a bite, and when she looked up, she saw the others looking at her expectantly. "The Colonies and most of Earth already hated me. Anyone who didn't hate me for my family, especially Grandfather, certainly hated me after the trial with Mariemaia. Mostly this snafu just undid the few bridges I had started to mend, though it did ostracize me from the old Romefeller crowd." "Why did you sue Mariemaia? Lady Une and Relena worked hard to use her as a symbol of hope for the new era," asked Hilde. "To protect what little legacy and reputation my family has," Dorothy clarified. "Mr. Treize was way too young to have fathered Mariemaia, and surely that nurse did not sleep with a teenager. Dekim Barton merely used the girl as a pawn for his own purposes. If a different officer had been the most popular amongst the troops, he would have said that Mariemaia was the daughter of that officer. Mariemaia, I'm sure, is a nice enough child, but she is not part of my family tree, and why should I stand for having an impostor be there? My cousins and I were not going to stand to have Mr. Treize's belongings go to that child." She went to take another bite of Junior's green beans, but he stopped her and ate it himself. "Well, it didn't endear you to the public, you're right," agreed Hilde, afraid to praise Junior for fear of breaking the spell. "Une certainly thinks she's really Treize's kid, despite your DNA test," Duo said, bouncing Darcy. "Yes, she thinks we faked the entire thing," Dorothy agreed. "And she is free to give to Mariemaia the possessions Mr. Treize left for her and to tell Mariemaia all she thinks she knows about my cousin, but she will never be welcome in my house." "I don't think they want to visit anymore," quipped Quatre. Dorothy gave him a look but ultimately accepted it. "Have any plans for what you'll do here?" asked Hilde. "Do you mean me or Quatre?" asked Dorothy, feeding Junior the last of his green beans before he realized what was happening. "Both...though Duo says you might be sharing the same future." Trowa looked at the other couple, clearly in the dark. "We're trying to have a baby," Quatre explained. "No, we're not getting married or living together right now. We've talked about maybe doing it in the future, but right now, no plans." "They don't want to get too serious, just have a baby, create life together," wryly cracked Duo indicating the baby in his arms for emphasis. Ignoring the comment, Quatre continued, "At the moment, I have no plans. I have two of my sisters running the company back in the Colonies, and I know they'll try a complete takeover if given half the chance. I suppose my first goal will be to find out how to communicate with them effectively to maintain what little control I have." It was a miracle he had not been officially replaced as head of the company already. "I suppose I'll first just try to adjust to life here," said Dorothy, slightly depressed. "The food here is not quite as bad as I feared, but I still would rather have other options. I have not really seen any grocers." Hilde shook her head. "The mess hall has been the main source of food for most people for awhile now. They have plans to start phasing it out as the main food source for the general population within the next few years. A lot of people have started growing vegetables and herbs in their own personal gardens; if they have excess, there's a farmer's market on the weekends." "Is there a lot of variety in food?" "Yes," replied Duo. "Hilde and I are working to get one set up for ourselves, but sometimes it can be hard to find room underground for the gardens. Then you have to pay for all the water used, which can be a bit pricey, especially if you go the hydroponics route." "But it lets you control your own menu, obviously, and it's healthier for the kids. Plus, like we said, if you can grow more than you need, you can sell it at the farmer's market to your neighbors." "I've never cooked before, but it sounds interesting," Dorothy said. "Mommy, I ate it all!" exclaimed Junior proudly, showing his clean plate. "Very good, sweetheart!" beamed Hilde. "That's my boy. Good job, kiddo," complimented Duo, reaching across Dorothy to ruffle the boy's hair. "Can we go play now?" "Soon," promised Hilde. "It's nearly time for the boys' baths. I suppose you two must be tired from the journey anyway." "A bit," Quatre admitted. "I have to do something for work anyway," Trowa added cryptically. No one bothered to question him on the matter this time. He said his goodbyes, mostly to Junior, and took his leave. "Well, we can get together tomorrow or the day after. If you need a babysitter for an evening alone every now and then, Quatre and I would love to watch them. I'm sure Duo already told you about the other offer," Dorothy said. "Oh, thanks," smiled Hilde. "Come on, Junior. Let's get your popsicle and head back home." As the Maxwells gathered everything, Quatre looked at Dorothy. "Are you volunteering me for things without discussing it with me?" he teased. "It's ok when I do it," she assured, "but if it makes you feel better, think of it as our being even." "Well, shall you show me your room?" |
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10:31 AM Jul 11